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9.27.2011

Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm

On Saturday we decided to venture an hour out of the city to Barrington, IL for a little family fun. We had heard of a "farm" out there that would be fun for Maddox, called Goebbert's.

They had everything a kid could want at a pumpkin farm. Everything but the kitchen sink. Literally.

Yes, they even had a giraffe. Cuh-razy. I know. Maddox absolutely loved those darn giraffes.

Matt did too.

I did not love that they made us pay $3 for a cup of carrots. I could
have cut up a whole bag of carrots for $3. But hey, you can't put a
price on the happiness of a toddler.

They had some freakishly long tongues. That were purple. Did you know giraffes have purple tongues? Me either.

He was so cute trying to lure the giraffes over with his little carrot stick. But there were only two giraffes, and lots of people wanting to feed them.

They had lots of other craziness going on too. In fact, Matt made a new friend.

Mason too. Although he slept for most of the day. Yes, he is sporting a Bears hat in this picture. It was a gift.

They also had baby tiger cubs (which you could pay $20 to have your picture taken with. We did not.), bears, monkeys, cows, sheep, llamas, a warthog, and goats.

Maddox loved those darn goats. Who wouldn't? They are very eager for attention and food.

They also had pony rides and camel rides. But Maddox was content spending the majority of the time in the animal tents.

Here he is with the "Gucks!", which mean ducks. But these are chickens. He was on the right track. And "Gucks!" Is just too cute to correct at this point.

Little Mason woke up to nurse while Maddox and Daddy played on a wooden fire truck and Maddox crawled through a tunnel of corn over and over.

We really enjoyed the straw bale maze. It was made for little kids. Matt and I could see over the bales. Maddox loved running through the stacks of hay. There weren't many other kiddos in the maze at that time, so he could run around without being plowed over by bigger kids.

Some pictures just look neat in black and white.

Then we watched the pumpkin eating dinosaur.

You can see Matt and Maddox if you look closely.

That thing was crazy. It picked up a pumpkin and "chewed" it up, then dropped the pieces and burped. It even blew smoke out its nose. Maddox just stared and stared. I think he was also a little tired from skipping naptime.

How sweet is this face? Love him.

Then we watched a super cheesy pig race. The announcer crammed in as many bacon jokes as humanly possible in those 15 minutes. Maddox liked watching the pigs go around the track, and clapped when they finished. I could not, for the life of me, coax him to look at the camera.

The pig race was followed by a pretty tough corn maze. We were carrying Maddox by the end. Even I was getting worn out. But we figured it out!

Goebbert's had lots more that I didn't photograph. A bakery, garden store, an inflatable jumping pillow, wagon rides, and a haunted house.

But we did get a picture of the giant rocking chair.

And a picture of some pumpkins.

Mason didn't partake in many of the festivities. He is only 8 weeks old, after all. But despite what the above picture may suggest, I think he enjoyed himself.

We had a wonderful time spending the day together. You might even say it was "batty". Whatever that means.

Maddox was sad to leave.

We are planning on visiting a couple other pumpkin farms this fall. But I don't know if Goebberts can be topped. The only thing lacking was charm. It didn't have that "family farm" feel. It was more like an over-the-top, cram-everything-in, money machine. But it was still a good time.